Lemuel Idzik
Lemuel Idzik (Yiddish: לעמועל ידזיק) is a visitor, and later inmate, featured in Oz. Portrayed by Joel Grey. Character Summary In his first appearance, he is disguised as a reporter who is in Oz to do a story on Kareem Said's efforts to self publish Augustus Hill's memoirs. When Said walks up to shake his hand, Idzik pulls out a revolver, shooting Said twice in the torso before a guard disarms him. Said dies shortly afterwards, and Idzik is convicted of second degree murder, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Plot Summary Season 6 .]] Understandably, Idzik already has enemies in Oz - notably the Muslims and Omar White. (Schillinger and other members of the Brotherhood attempt to befriend Idzik for murdering Said. Idzik quickly reveals his Jewish origin, and they leave as upset and confused as the rest of Oz.) Tim McManus talks to both parties and convinces the former to give Idzik a wide berth. White, however, is not entirely compliant, and leaves McManus' office with uncertain intentions. When Idzik moves out of Unit J and is made White's new cell mate, White becomes very agitated and conflicted, but eventually decides not to harm Idzik, much to Idzik's dismay. When repeatedly asked why he murdered Said, Idzik finally tells White he asked to come to Em City so someone would kill him, because the cosmos is coming to an end and he wants release, but not by suicide. When, after a day of research, White refutes Idzik's prophecy and thus his desire to die, Idzik murders White in his sleep by slitting his throat. For his second murder, Idzik is placed on death row, but his conviction is overturned, again to his dismay. Finally, Sister Peter Marie coaxes out an explanation for his death wish. He tells her of how, long ago, he met Kareem Said in Istanbul, before Said's conversion to Islam. Said spoke passionately and convincingly of how the universe was ultimately doomed, and those words stuck to Idzik, changing him forever, sapping from him all purpose in life. He told Sister Pete that by killing Said, he stopped himself from doing something of a far greater danger to the world. After killing Said, he then kills Omar in hopes that he would, in turn, be executed. Ironically, his sentence is overturned and he is sent back to Em City. He is last seen on one of the evacuation buses in the closing scenes of the series. Appearances Season 6 *Sonata da Oz *A Failure to Communicate *4giveness *A Day in the Death... *Junkyard Dawgs *Exeunt Omnes Kill Count Personal *'Kareem Saïd': Shot to death with a revolver. (2003) *'Omar White': Slit his throat during the night. (2003) Gallery IdzikShootingSaid.jpg|Idzik shooting Kareem Said. IdzikCF.jpg|Idzik as seen in his crime flashback. IdzikHoldingKnife.jpg|Idzik with the shiv he used on Omar. IdzikInSolitary.jpg|Idzik in his solitary cell. IdzikOnTheBus.jpg|Idzik on the evacuation bus. Category:Characters Category:Visitors Category:The Others Category:Unit J Category:Emerald City Category:Solitary Category:Characters on Death Row Category:Lifers Category:Living Characters Category:Murderers